Application servers, such as IBM's WebSphere Application Server®, (WAS) support the deployment and management of Web applications ranging from simple Web sites to powerful e-business solutions. In the case of IBM's WebSphere Application Server®, the platform is a Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE®) Web application server, similar to other application servers, such as BEA WebLogic® Server and Oracle Application Server.
WAS provides the application logic enabling client components to interact with data resources and legacy applications. WAS also collaborates with the Web Server by exchanging client requests and application responses. An administrator can define multiple Application Servers where each would be running in its own Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Within application servers such as WAS, the application server configuration provides information for starting and managing a server process to handle requests for enterprise applications and their components. WAS uses an administrative console to guide a user through deployment and system administration tasks. Actions taken by the user in the console modify a set of XML configuration files. Administrators can use the console to perform such tasks as adding, deleting, and stopping application servers, deploying new applications to a server, starting and stopping existing applications, and modifying certain configurations. In addition, administrators can use the console to manage variable, shared libraries, database connections, and other configurations that can span multiple application servers, configure product security, and collect data for performance and troubleshooting purposes.
Existing tools offer ways to administer and manage application server tasks without the need for the graphical user interface of the administrative console. Java Command Language (Jacl) is designed to be a universal scripting language for Java. A Jacl interpreter is written completely in Java and can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Jacl can be used to create Web content or to control Java applications. WAS contains a utility, wsadmin, that implements and extends the base Jacl interpreter allowing an administrator to make additions, changes, or modifications to the server configuration.
In the on-demand service environment, many of the application server administration operations (making additions, changes or modifications to the server configuration) require manual, time consuming steps. Moreover, operations require a dedicated administrator with a specific skill set to perform the tasks when that administrator's skills could be applied to additional responsibilities. For example, to execute a task such as “installing an application,” an administrator must be trained in the existing tool so that he or she understand the controls, becomes familiar with navigation and can follow a series of steps to achieve deploying an Enterprise Archive (EAR) file and start the application. Any small mistake in the detailed process (such as a missed check box or incorrect database version from the installation panel) can cause the installation to fail. In order to enable an application to connect to a database, the administrator would be required to launch the administrative console, login, click the security link in the navigation, and work with such properties as credentials, descriptions, variable entries pointing to the resource provider classes, resource links in the navigation, datasources, database names, connection pool information, and others.
Therefore, a need exists for a tool to automate complex, manual administrative steps in an application server and thereby minimize the time and training required to execute tasks.